1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of network management systems for data communications networks. More particularly, this invention relates to a user defined group configuration function in such network management systems.
2. Background of the Invention
Commercially available data communications network management systems have been used for a number of years to enable an operator to manage a large group of objects within a data network. Such objects include modems, multiplexers, Digital Service Units (DSU's), encryption devices, packet switches, etc. An example of such a system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,384 to Rosbury et al which is hereby incorporated by reference. Such network management systems typically allow a user to define certain information about the network in an integral database which is used in the network management function. It is typical for such databases to keep track of information such as location of the object, type of object, object ID, and interconnection information relating to the object (i.e. what other objects are connected to the object in question).
In the commercially available CMS 2000.TM. network management system produced by Racal-Milgo, a user is able to obtain certain information regarding certain sites, domains, circuits and diagnostic channels for generation of reports or displays and the like. In addition, by addressing a command to a predetermined global address, the command can be received and acted upon by all units on a particular diagnostic channel. It would be desirable to provide for arbitrary definition of groups of objects so that the user has the ability to create groups which might not be contemplated by the designer of the network management system. The present invention provides such a mechanism.
Consider for example the following table (TABLE 1) of selected information regarding several network objects and the associated scenarios described below (remembering that a typical network may include hundreds or thousands of such objects:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ TYPE ID MFG. DATE DTE ______________________________________ modem 14 XYZ 10/87 terminal modem 16 XYZ 3/89 terminal modem 18 XYZ 3/89 terminal modem 20 XYZ 7/89 teller modem 22 ABC 5/89 teller multiplexer 24 XYZ 3/88 terminals multiplexer 26 XYZ 3/88 terminals multiplexer 28 ABC 9/87 terminals ______________________________________
It may be desirable for the network management operator to be able to tell at any time which network objects are manufactured by ABC. It would therefore be desirable to create a special group within the database of all ABC manufactured objects. This could be useful for simple inventory purposes as well as diagnosing particular peculiarities of devices of a single manufacturer. In this small example, devices 22 and 28 would be in this group.
It may be desirable for the network management operator to determine which objects are connected to automated teller machines. This group would be objects 20 and 22. By finding the intersection of this group and the group of all ABC devices, the operator may detect problems peculiar to interfacing ABC modems to teller machines.
In another example, it may be useful to group together all XYZ modems manufactured prior to 4/89 (14, 16 and 18) in the event that a minor design change causes these devices to perform differently in some way. For example, suppose they behave differently at lower temperatures or have a "bug" in their internal firmware. These devices can then be dealt with as a group by the operator as required.
In addition to these examples, it may be desirable for other otherwise arbitrary groups to be collectively addressable by the user. For example, all objects of a particular type or types (model from a given manufacturer), class, speed, purchase date, diagnostic circuit, circuit connection, priority of service, etc. The present invention provides for such arbitrary groupings of devices so that using conventional database technology, this group can be collectively addressed as a group by the user for any appropriate function (e.g. request all units in a particular group to perform a loopback test).
In existing known network management systems, creation of such user defined groups is not possible. In general, the internal database used by the network management system is designed specifically to do only the tasks defined at the time of the design. If the design team sees no reason to define, for example, a group of devices manufactured prior to a particular date, no provision may be made for addressing those devices as a group for management and diagnostic functions. In fact, it is unlikely that there is a mechanism for encoding such a date in a typical system unless done through serial numbers which can be correlated to dates.
The present invention alleviates this problem by providing the user with a mechanism for arbitrarily defining groups of network objects to address as a group for network management and diagnostic or other functions.